The regional government of Andalusia has requested the Ministry of Transport to carry out expansion works and implement urgent provisional measures to address traffic jams on the main highways of the autonomous community. The request was made during a sectoral conference in Madrid, where the Minister of Public Works, Mario Muñoz-Atanet, urged Minister Óscar Puente to take action to resolve mobility issues in southern Spain, which are particularly aggravated during the summer.
Muñoz-Atanet emphasized the urgency of accelerating the processing of the third lane on the AP-4 highway, a crucial route between Seville and Cadiz. He pointed to recurring congestion on the A-7 near Malaga, the AP-4, the A-49 towards Huelva, and the A-44 between Granada and Motril as examples of the state network's saturation. He called for combining the planning of major infrastructure projects with temporary solutions to alleviate immediate congestion problems.
The minister highlighted that while some actions require years of planning, temporary solutions exist that can immediately improve mobility. He cited a provisional intervention by the regional government at the access points to the Malaga Technology Park, which eliminated long-standing traffic jams. He warned that any major structural project initiated today would take at least a decade to become operational, requesting the toll on the AP-46 in Malaga be subsidized during the works on the A-45 at Las Pedrizas.
Furthermore, he called for reinforcing conservation and resurfacing plans due to detected deterioration on various corridors, and in response to the increasing use of roads caused by train delays. A list of pending infrastructure projects will be sent to the Ministry.
The meeting, the first since 2022, was marked by the absence of Minister Óscar Puente, which was lamented by the Andalusian representative, who recalled the Ministry's legal obligation to convene the forum semi-annually. The initial agenda did not include discussions on the road network or the state of the railway system; these points were added at the insistence of several autonomous communities.
Regarding railways, concern was expressed about the deterioration of Cercanías (commuter train) services and the slow progress of major railway projects in Andalusia, such as the Santa Justa-San Pablo connection or the coastal train for the Costa del Sol. Criticism was directed at the low investment in high-speed rail maintenance, and a call was made for greater regional participation in decision-making.
The sectoral forum also addressed the future single transport pass and the Social Plan for Climate. Andalusia and the Canary Islands advocated for the single travel pass to be compatible with their already successfully implemented transport passes and consortia.
